Spiritual insight

25th May 2018

As I said last week, I visited Glastonbury recently. I was walking along the High Street
when a young lady approached me. She was very sweet and gentle. She told me she was asking
people for wisdom, and she asked me if I had any spiritual insight I could share with her.
That sort of thing doesn't happen much in Gosport.

I told her I was a Christian, and she seemed rather supportive of the idea. I was touched
by her non-judgemental attitude. I said that my answer would have to be one of the sayings of
Jesus. She responded, reasonably enough, by asking me, "Which one?" But how can a person
choose one of the sayings of Jesus over all the others?

I wanted to be helpful, so I quoted John 1v25-26, "I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in me will live, even if he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me
will never die." I hope that enabled the young lady to think more clearly about eternal
life, and I pray she will find Jesus, because He's the only source of the peace and
truth she's looking for. She then offered me an invisible flower (really). I hope she wasn't
offended that I chose not to accept it.

Her question stayed with me. I spent a large part of that evening asking myself which of
the sayings of Jesus really is my favourite. I suspect that the answer to that question
changes over time but, at this stage of my life, the one that's speaking most powerfully to
me is:

Matthew 5v3
Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

As we learn from the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18v9-14, those
who are confident of their own goodness, their own righteousness, their own spirituality, are
disqualified from the kingdom of heaven. But those of us who know we're sinners, who cry out
to God for mercy and forgiveness, are justified by faith and may enter the kingdom of
heaven.

May God keep us humble.

I think this is what separates true Christianity from all other spiritual and religious
endeavour; A true Christian knows he's a sinner. He knows he can never justify himself. All
other religions, including the sort of "new age" spirituality that interested the young lady
I spoke to, is about wanting to find peace by believing that we're good people. We want our
spiritual leaders to tell us that we're nice, we don't need to feel guilty, we're at one with
the universe. The Bible teaches us that we're not nice, we do need to feel guilty - because
we ARE guilty - and we're enemies of God. And the only solution is the precious blood of
Jesus.

We don't need to be told that we're pure. We need to know we're forgiven.

If we're poor enough in spirit, perhaps we can admit these things to ourselves and to God,
and then find forgiveness through faith in Christ's redeeming sacrifice. Otherwise we're
lost.

Heavenly Father, thank you than many people in our country are seeking spiritual
reality and peace. We pray for them that they will find that peace and reality in Christ,
who died to pay for their sin. In Jesus's name. Amen.